The Mounties Woman
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: Benton's latest assignment is playing babysitter/bodyguard to an ambassadors daughter.however Hanna is like nothing he had ever e is beauty and and she is everything that he could ever want in a woman. Benton/OC new longer chap 7!
1. Chapter 1

The formal party was everything that he had thought it would be when he had gotten dressed earlier. There was a band with a woman singer, waltzing couples on the in their formal wear on the dance floor. The lights in the room had been dimmed, aside from the glittering crystaline chandalier hanging overhead. Setting a slightly more romantic mood for the couples dancing.

And he could clearly see the Canadian ambassador, weaving his way through the people, mingling with various other politicians in the room and couldn't help but look around anxiously.

He was here on a request from the ambassador to take his sixteen year old daughter, Hanna around the city and make sure that she has fun. It wasn't exactly a bad job, after all he liked kids. But he wasn't totally sure what would please a young lady straddling the line between child and woman. He felt anxious and nervous about meeting the young lady and couldn't seem to stand still.

He kept shifting from foot to foot nervously and looking down at his semi formal wear and frowning.

He still couldn't believe that he'd grabbed the wrong belt and forgotten his formal gloves. What was he? A barbarian?

The door a few feet behind him opened and he turned to glance at the person coming in out of curiosity. Was this the young lady he was supposed to take around Chicago? He wondered as a woman wearing an ankle length black satin dress and dark brown hair carefully pulled back from her face and piled up on top of her head in loose ringlets and curls, walked in.

He gave her a polite smile as she looked at him and was somewhat put at ease when she smiled back. He turned back towards the dance floor and was more then a little bit startled to find the ambassador standing next to him. _How did he-_ He wondered as he turned his head a little bit to look at the man.

He hadn't even sensed him coming up on him. _I need to pay more attention to my blind spot. _He thought as the ambassador smiled at him.

"You must be Benton Fraser, you're commanding officer said that you would be hard to miss- You're taller than I expected." The man said half jokingly as he held his hand out to him. Benton's sky blue eyes looked down at the man's hand as he hesitantly slipped his fingers around the man's hand and said a polite greeting. Then promptly tried to explain why he wasn't wearing his formal uniform.

The ambassador waved his explanation off. Telling him that his lack of formal wear was no problem before commenting on how Hanna will probably like him as he was anyways since she found formal affairs tedious and hardly ever bothered to attend them.

Benton was more than a little bit surprised by the man's words. He'd never imagined that an ambassador's daughter would dislike parties such as the current one. Especially since political figures usually attended such gatherings to keep relations between countries good. Avoiding it was just, just-

It was just down right _scandalous _is what it was.

The ambassador clapped his hands together, drawing Benton from his thoughts as he said cheerfully, "Okay constable. Just a few small tips on how to handle Hanna and I can tell you where to meet here. First off, Hanna isn't sixteen- She's twenty two. The photo that you were given so that you could see what she looked like was an old one. I'm afraid that she hasn't sit still long enough for a picture or likness of her to be made since she was actually sixteen-" Benton opened his mouth to say something but the man was still talking so he just shut his mouth and listened.

"The reason for this trip is because she needs a husband and I'm trying to arrange a marriage for her with someone suitable. However she's reached her rebellious stage and tends to be..._willful_. She's manage to ruin five marriage proposals, three relationships with other foreign diplomats and to be honest I'm thinking of disowning her. She's just embarrassed me so much over the past few years."

"So...she's a trouble maker?"

"No. And at the same time yes. Don't get me wrong Fraser, she's a good girl. She is less likely to get herself arrested than her little sister is. But I can't control her. She simply refuses to listen to what I have to say. I just wanted to make that clear to you. Now, her likes are monster movies, dancing, arts and crafts, reading, writing short stories, music-"

"I think I get the idea sir." Benton said politely. The man smiled at him.

"Alright, did anyone give you the specifics of your assignment?"

"I was told that I would be showing the young lady around the city and making sure that she has fun. I was to take her on a tour, shopping-"

"Well that isn't all that you'll be doing, constable."

"It isn't?" Bentons asked curiously. The man slowly shook his head no and then started listing his assignment and everything it entailed.

"You will be not only acting as my daughter's escort and keeping her company but you will be acting as her bodyguard as well. And since we will be in Chicago for a month, I asked for the best person for this specific job. Your commanding officer said that you _were_ the best. Do you accept?"

Benton was quiet for a moment as he mulled everything over. Dealing with a twenty somthing year old woman with a willful nature was _not_ his idea of fun. But if his commanding officer said that he was the best for the job then he could do nothing but accept the job and everything that came with it. He just hoped that the woman didn't push his buttons too much.

"Yes sir. I accept."

"Good. You'll find Hanna at the Longridge hotel. Room number 313."


	2. Chapter 2

The Longridge hotel was by far one of the most luxurious hotels that Benton Fraser had ever stepped foot in.

Everything was plush, and glittering gold and crystal. The building itself stood over ten stories high and was made up of white marble while the inside was classy. Antique/vintage style furniture, and light fixtures. Old out of date cream and gold scroll design wall paper.

He walked by the front desk and poiltely tipped his hat to the people who walked past him as he made his way to the elevator and calculated that Hanna must be on the fifth or sixth floor and decided that he had enough time to check both floors for her room before he found her.

All in all his trip from one floor to the next took less than twenty minutes before he found himself on the right floor. And another ten minutes to reach the room 313. He stood there for a moment or two, nervously straightening his uniform before he reached out and gently knocked.

The door swung open a little ways and Benton frowned. He hadn't even heard Hanna move to open the door which was unusual since he could hear, sense, and smell just about as keenly as a wolf. And he was pretty damn sure that the door hadn't been closed well or locked to begin with.

Cautiously moving forward he pushed the door open a bit more, trying to be as quiet as he could as he peered into the sweet that Hanna was supposed to be inhabiting.

Nothing seemed out of place. Everything was neat and tidy. However he wasn't sure what to expect. For all he knew Hanna had been taken by surprise by some brute, knocked unconscious, and possibly killed. It was a chilling thought to him. But it wouldn't stop him from doing his job.

He just hoped that that wasn't the case.

He checked the living room like quarters then moved on to check the bathroom, noting in relief that there was no body there then moved on to the bedroom. He opened the door quietly and peeked inside and sighed when he saw something curled up under the covers. Moving stealthily, he slipped into the room and made his way over to the bed and very carefully moved the covers back just enough to see the woman's face and blinked.

Hanna was a beautiful. Perhaps not model beautiful. But she was an exotic beauty with her long mid back length dark brown hair, her ivory skin, and soft pale pink lips. He didn't feel the need to check for a pulse since she cracked an eye open just long enough to look at him and mutter. "Are you going to take advantage of me?"

He blinked and flushed a little bit at her question and shook his head no. She shrugged her shoulders under the blanket. Or at least he assumed that she did then muttered, "Bummer." And rolled over and pulled the blanket out of his hand and went back to sleep. Leaving him rooted in place feeling more than a little _shocked_ speechless by her comment.

Why would his not taking advantage of her while she slept be considered a bummer? He wondered before everything sank in. Oh. _Oh! _Benton thought as his face turned red and he abruptly turned on his heel and walked towards the door.

Deciding to put space between himself and the odd creature sleeping in the bed before something even more shocking escaped her lips.


	3. Chapter 3

Benton busied himself with securing the room and making sure that the locks on the door functioned properly and managed to kill an hour or so before going through some of her personal effects. He didn't touch anything too...uh, _personal_.

He merely discovered that she had some books in one of her suit cases and decided to see what sort of reading material she had. After all he wasn't sure how long she would sleep and he couldn't seem to find the remote to the TV. Or he might have tried to find a Hockey game or something to occupy him.

The books as it turned out were something that he'd never seen before. They appeared to be japanese in origin and looked like comics bound into one semi thick book. The book itself had a colorful cover with a girl and a boy, both of them smiling and was called Fushigi Yugi; the Mysterious Play. He sat down on the couch with the book in hand and opened it and flipped through a few pages.

And blinked in surprise when he noticed that it was in english while some japanese words had small translations and notes to tell what the person was saying, or thinking. He spent the next hour reading and right around the time he finished the book in his hands the bedroom door opened, and Hanna came out stifling a yawn behind one delicately boned hand.

He closed the book and set it aside, and looked her over as she noticed him sitting there. She was about five foot six inches tall with a lithe, petite frame. Her breasts weren't small yet at the same time not too big either. She stood in the bedroom door with a blank look on her pretty face as she stared back at him with exotic teal colored eyes as some of her bangs slipped down into her eyes.

"Who're you?"

"Constable Benton Fraser. I was sent to-"

"Babysit me. Yeah, I remember you now. You're the guy who didn't want to take advantage of me."

He flushed a little bit and looked uncomfortable. "Yes. That would be me." She hummed and shrugged her shoulders as she stepped out of the bedroom wearing nothing but a knee length form fitting black and white striped cotton shirt and his eyes automatically went to the exposed skin of her legs as his mouth went dry. _Oh my. _

"Give me a second to wake up good and I'll introduce myself-" Hanna said and all he could do was force himself to smile and nod his head as she walked over to the couch and sat down beside him. And then leaned against his side. He made a strangled sound in the back of his throat and wanted to get up and move around, but he didn't dare. She sighed and pressed her head against his shoulder and said in a raspy tone. "God I'm tired... Hey, boy scout, did you eat anything yet?"

Benton turned his head to look at her and blinked when he saw her eyes peeking up over the top of his shoulder, staring at him. Obviously waiting for a reply from him. "Uh, no actually. I haven't eaten anything yet."

"Then call room service and have them bring something up for you."

He started to shake his head no and protest that he couldn't do that since her father would end up footing the bill, and was startled when she shifted and put one hand on his upper leg and leaned across his lap and grabbed the phone on the small coffee table next to him. And handed it to him and said gently but firmly. "My father isn't the one paying for my stay in the hotel._ I am._ And I say that you should order something to eat if you're hungry."

Seeing that she wasn't about to let this particular topic go Benton took the phone from her grasp and looked uncertain about what to do next. It was true that he was getting hungry after eating nothing but a sandwich for lunch earlier in the day. And it was approaching ten at night now.

"I'll eat something." He said, finally caving to her will and was about to ask her if she wanted him to order something for her when she got up and went back into the bedroom and closed the door.

He didn't see her again for the rest of the night. However in the morning, being the gentleman that he was, he ordered a few things for the both of them and sat down to wait for her to get up.


	4. Chapter 4

Benton sat at the small table beside the sliding glass door that led out to the terrace waiting patiently like he had for the past hour or two for Hanna to get up and right about nine a.m. he could hear her finally up and moving around in her bedroom. Twenty minutes later she stepped out of the bedroom completely dressed in a baggy sapphire blue sweater that fell past her hips and skin tight black jeans, her long dark hair was damp and pulled back into two pony tails at her nape.

She glanced at him and then looked at the table and frowned a little bit. "You're still here?"

He gave her a sunny smile. "Uh, yes ma'am. Did you sleep well?" He asked as he stood up and walked over to her and gently took one of her hands in his and placed it on the crook of his arm and then led her over to the table and pulled out her seat. She looked down at the seat then back at him and his expectant expression and sighed.

God why did she have to get the only actual boy scout in the whole Canadian police troop? _Dad must be punishing me for getting that butterfly tat back in New York. _Hanna thought as she sat down and jumped a little bit as he pushed her seat in for her then walked back over to his seat and re took it. She scratched her cheek awkwardly, not exactly knowing what to say to him aside from a polite softly spoken 'thanks' that made him smile before he asked.

"You're not much of a talker are you?" She gave him a startled look and he chuckled then pointed out. "You still haven't answered my earlier question about how you slept."

"Oh. _Oh_, umm, I slept fine I guess. How about you? Did you eat something like I said?"

"Yes. I had some baked salmon, crab cakes, a baked potato with a pinch of salt and pepper and a salad for dinner last night before I fell asleep on the couch." Benton said as he picked up his napkin and placed it in his lap.

"Oh well that sounds nice."

"It was. Though I would have preferred to eat with someone to talk too." Benton said before saying, "I hope that you don't mind that I ordered us both breakfast. I wasn't sure when you would wake up or what you would like so I ordered some scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast-"

"It's fine. Since I didn't eat last night this will do. Thank you." Hanna said as she picked up a piece of toast and took a small bite of it and chewed slowly as he picked up his fork and dug into his food. The poor guy must have been really hungry because his food was gone in under a minute.

_Good grief. _Hanna thought as she just barely managed to finish her piece of toast before he sat his fork down and used his napkin to wipe his mouth and then sat back in his seat. And looked expectantly at her. "Is the food not to you're liking ma'am?" He asked curiously, a frown marring his face.

She gave him a deer caught in the headlights sort of look and quickly took three more bites of her food then grabbed her drink and downed it to keep herself from choking.

It didn't exactly work since her food got caught in her throat for a moment and the boy scout had to get up and thump her on the back a few times before getting her some water and handing it to her with a concerned look on his handsome face.

She drank the water and set it down and gently pushed his hand from her back and cleared her throat so that she could rasp out a rough sounding, "Thanks..."

"Are you alright ma'am?" Benton asked worriedly as she nodded her head and moved away from him a little ways. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate his help, or that she wasn't well after seeing her life flash before her eyes. She was fine. _Really_.

She just felt oddly out of place here and unsure of how to proceed.

It was rare for her to run across someone so eager to please. This man was almost like a child in his enthusiasm to please her. She glanced at him over her shoulder and found him standing right where he had been a second ago, staring back at her with a concerned look on his face and mentally sighed. Crud.

Her father was a sadist to send her the only person in the city just as starved for affection as she was. _Bastard. I'll have to do something horrible to him to get back at him for this. _Like steal his private jet and go to Las Vegas and max out one of his credit cards or something.

Although... she wouldn't really derive any joy from the act. It was merely a knee jerk reaction that she had developed when she was younger. Something to let her father know that her vindictive streak was still there, buried deep under the facade of civility she displayed.

The boy scout cleared his throat and looked uncertain of what to do next as he looked away for a moment and seemed to collect his thoughts enough to ask her, "Should I call some paramedics to look you over?"

"No-" She rasped, suddenly feeling exhausted. "I'm fine... You said that you're name is Benton right?"

He looked a little startled at her question and nervously wet his lips with the tip of his tongue before answering. "Uh, yes ma'am."

"And you're anxious to get your job started, aren't you?"

"Well- I- Yes actually. I'm very anxious."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"Oh. Forgive me for not being able to hide my anxiousness. It's just that-"

She waved his explanation off. "My dad is a high profile politician, you don't have to explain things to me. Beleave me. I know how things work-" She said as she turned around to face him and pushed some of her dark hair away from her face. "Before we do anything, you need a shower and some less noticable clothes."

He blinked and looked down at his uniform and frowned. "I beg your pardon."

"It'll be easier for you to do your job if you blend in more. People are less likely to _notice_ you-"

"And will think me an ordinary person and _hinder_ me if you find yourself in trouble."

"I'm not about to get into a situation that I can't get out of. So you needn't worry about anything like that happening." She said dismissively. He blanched a little bit and got a horrified look on his face.

"But I do worry. I worry a lot."

"Oh enough! What are you a second grader?"

"Well, no ma'am. If I was I'd have already pushed you down or stuck gum in your hair." He said in a wry smile. Hoping to charm her into letting him keep his uniform. She gave him an evil smirk and the bottom dropped out of his stomach as she walked over to him and grabbed one of his jacket sleeves and dragged him into the bedroom and kicked the door closed and then pounced on him.

He let out a startled yelp as he felt his jacket being torn open and screamed in outrage.


	5. Chapter 5

An hour later Benton stood in Hanna's bedroom naked with the exception of the curtain that he'd ripped down in his haste to hide himself from her eyes, wrapped around his waist. Looking at the torn remnants of his work uniform.

He didn't think he was ever going to understand why women- _all_ women- seemed to turn into sex crazed beasts when they got within arms reach of him.

The only consulation he got from _this_ particular situation was the fact that he knew Hanna wasn't after his person in such a way. She had already found him some new clothes, some hiking boots, and several shirts to wear. All of them brand new from the looks of the small pile laying on her bed next to his old uniform.

He sighed and started to rub the back of his neck with his hand, a mite confused about what he was supposed to be doing with them when he heard Hanna knock on the door. "Are you decent?"

"No." He growled and dropped his hand to cross his arms over his chest and nearly jumped out of his skin when the bedroom door opened and she stepped in. Benton flushed and made a choking sound as he automatically backed away from her as she walked over and laid his hunting knife on the bed along with a few other things. Then sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at him.

_"Ma'am?"_ He squeaked, sounding scandalized by the fact that _she_-a woman- was in the presence of _he_- a naked man.

She looked him over for a second then put a hand over her mouth and turned her head away and tried to suppress her laughter. But he already knew that she was laughing. He just didn't understand why. "Calm down there, boy scout. You haven't got anything that I haven't seen before." She finally said as she dropped her hand away from her mouth.

Benton glared at her as her words registered with his mind and was uncertain about what to say. On one hand, ew. Just how many men had she stripped naked anyways? And on the other hand, he didn't particularly like thinking that she was somehow comparing him to other men.

That was just creepy. And insulting.

She reached over and picked up the pair of jeans she'd gotten for him and stood up and walked over to him and tried not to snap when he flattened himself against the wall and just sort of stood there as she held the pants up to his hips and ran one hand along one of his legs, trying to get a good feel for how the clothes would fit him.

Just in case they were too tight and uncomfortable. She'd gotten a size 30 in width. Which was half a size bigger than his uniform pants so she was sure that they would fit him. She was so lost in her own little world that she didn't really notice when her fingers grazed the bare skin of his thigh causing him to make a strangled sound and jump a little bit.

She pulled her hands away and held the jeans out to him. He took them and studdered a polite 'thank you ma'am' and she stepped back and went back over to the bed and grabbed one of the sleeveless shirts and a green and black colored flannel shirt and handed them to him from over her shoulder as she asked. "Will the hiking boots fit you?"

He made an unintelligable sound and she looked at him over her shoulder and noted the scarlet blush. _Geez, this man-_ Hanna thought as he quickly started to ramble about his shoe size and how he was pretty sure that the boots would fit. He rambled on for about ten minutes before Hanna finally sighed. She was trying to help him out here, yet she was making him uncomfortable.

_I should go before he decides to jump out the window or something. _"Look Benton, I know that your uncomfortable and I'm sorry for that-"

He blinked and made another unintelligable sound. "Wha?" Before quickly adding. "Oh no, I'm not- You're not-" He sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry ma'am."

"Don't be. I only wanted to make sure that the stuff I got for you to wear would fit. I'm going to get out of here now. So you go ahead and shower or get dressed or whatever. I'll be waiting in the other room for you to finish." Hanna said as she walked out of the room and gently closed the door behind her. Leaving Benton alone with the feeling that he had just hurt her feelings or something.

He relaxed a little bit after a moment or so and looked down at the pants in his grasp and wished that his friend Ray was there to coach him through this. But since Ray was likely at work, and buisy, he couldn't bother him for help.

No, he would just have to do this on his own. And the first step would be to get dressed... But first.

He lifted one of his arms a little bit and subtly sniffed wondering if he needed to shower, and cringed a little bit at his smell. _God in heaven._ No wonder she had stripped him.

He needed a shower, bad to make himself more presentable. _Okay. New game plan_. First a shower, then get dressed, then go see if there is some way to repair the damage that he'd inflicted with his shyness.


	6. Chapter 6

When Benton stepped out of the bedroom thirty minutes later fully dressed, his wet short dark hair sticking up in different directions, he found his charge laying on the couch with one of the books he'd been thumbing through earlier laying on her chest. Her eyes were closed and for all intents and purposes she appeared to have fallen asleep and he stood there studying her, wondering what he should do until she woke up again when she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Oh, you're finally out."

"Uh, yeah." He said awkwardly as he lifted a hand to his hair, subconsciously trying to hide the unruly locks.

"The clothes fit okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Please stop calling me that."

"Calling you what?" He asked curiously.

"Ma'am. Please stop calling me ma'am. It makes me feel like an old lady." She said quietly as she slowly sat up and set her book aside and tiredly rubbed her eyes in an effort to wake up more. Benton opened his mouth to apologize for making her feel old and abruptly shut his mouth again, not understanding why his term of respect made her feel so uncomfortable.

He called many young ladies ma'am. And to his knowledge it never bothered any of them. In fact a few of them seemed to get a kick out of it. "Oh. I'm very sorry Miss-"

"Drop the miss. My name is Hanna. Just call me that." She said in an impatient tone.

He looked like he wanted to argue for a moment but then shrugged his shoulders and dropped his hands from his head and sighed. "If that's what you want. Then I'll call you by your name."

"Please and thank you. Now come over here and let me see if I can get your hair to lay down." He hesitated for a second, not knowing what she wanted him to do and moved over to the couch and paused as she picked up a comb that he hadn't noticed before and spread her legs wide and looked up at him. He stared at her wide eyed for a second, his mind reeling.

And reached down and pushed her legs closed and then gave her a tight lipped smile as he moved them to the side and sat down on the floor like she had indicated and buried his face in his hands as she started to run the comb through his hair. He wasn't sure how long he sat there letting her brush his hair, but by the time she was done he'd noticed two things.

1) He didn't feel quite so embarrassed anymore.

And 2) He felt nice and relaxed for the first time since yesterday. Hanna stopped running the brush through his hair and started to run her fingers through it, earning a curious look from him from over his shoulder. "Hanna."

"Sorry-" She said gently as she dropped her hand into her lap. "You have such soft hair that I couldn't resist."

"Ah." He said as he got to his feet again and sort of started pacing before asking, "What would you like to do today? Would you like a tour of the city? Shopping? Would you like to go to the opera? I'm sure that I can get tickets if you would tell me what sort of show you would prefer."

"How about we just walk around for a bit and see where that takes us, hm." Hanna said as she stood up off of the couch and walked over to the room door and slipped on the pair of soft black leather shoes she had pushed into the small corner there.

Benton blinked at her back and cocked his head. What was with this woman? She didn't act all that interested in anything. Not him, not the city, the prospect of shopping or touring- And he didn't understand why.

Why was she so uninterested in everything?

She looked back at him as she patted her pants down and made sure that she had the room key then said, "Well boy scout, are you coming?" His eyes went to her face, a small frown marring his features as he nodded his head and walked over to grasp the door and hold it open for her.

"After you Hanna."

"Thank you."


	7. Chapter 7

Hanna was unlike anyone he'd ever met before. He'd known that before they had left the hotel but once they hit the crowded streets, he became even more aware of this fact as he walked with her.

She didn't take any interest in normal activities that he would expect of someone with her upbringing. No she seemed to take a liking to more ordinary pursuits.

So far she had fed a bunch of stray cats and dogs. Played tag with some kids in the park several blocks from the hotel. Done a little bit of window shopping- but not for anything fancy. No, she had bought some colored ink pens, paint brushes, some watercolors and sketch pads. After that they had lunch, however he was the only person who ate since she told him that she wasn't hungry.

Still despite this he tried to coax her into eating some little something and after having his food pushed back and forth across the table between them; she had finally relented and ate a few bites of his fries then handed his stuff back to him to finish off.

Once he was done eating they hit the streets again and headed towards the historic district of the city where she turned to him and asked, "Have you ever ridden a train?" Benton thought for a moment and then shook his head no.

He could honestly say that he had never ridden a train before. Despite the fact that he had been living in Chicago for the past eight months, there had simply been no need for him to ride on the subway. Besides he'd heard some rather _outragous_ things about people who rode on trains and wasn't sure if it was a good idea to try it.

But Hanna looked so happy and excited that he found himself biting the inside of his cheek and giving in to her whim and let her lead him down into the subway for the first time in his life.

The first thing he did once they were below the city streets was grab her hand and pull her against his side and look around warily. He could already see a majority of the people that were best avoided. The gang members, the pimps and drug dealers that frequented the slums.

Hanna looked up at him with a perplexed look on her pretty face and he leaned down so that his mouth was just a few inches from her ear and said very calmly and clearly. "Stay right by my side. Do not make eye contact with anyone. Do not try speaking to anyone. Do not draw attention to yourself in any way. We'll ride the train to it's next stop _then_ we'll leave."

He straightened his spine and slipped an arm around her shoulders while transferring the hold on her hand to his free one and more or less _pushed_ his way through the crowded area and over to the platform, where people waited for the train and noticed five- no eight men ranging in age, race, and occupation were staring at him.

Or rather they were staring at Hanna. _Crap. _He thought as he gritted his teeth and maneuvered her so that she was right in front of him, his hands settled on her shoulders, his grip so tight that when he looked down he noticed that his knuckles were white and automatically loosened his grip some while wondering if he'd hurt her. And if so why hadn't she said anything?

The train pulled up and they stood there silently waiting for the doors to open before stepping on. Benton led the way, seeking out some private corner where he could hide Hanna and then place himself firmly between her and the men he _knew_ were going to follow them onto the train.

He managed to find a spot in a nice secluded little corner and none too subtely pushed Hanna into it and then trapped her there with his body as people flooded onto the train. Hanna whom had been silent up until he trapped her finally managed to ask warily, "Benton? What are you doing?"

He glanced down at her as soon as he located the places the men were in so that he could keep track of them and if they moved, and gave her an innocent look that might have fooled someone else. But not her. She _knew_ that he was tense about something and a mountie that was tense, was a really bad idea to cross.

Mainly because you would never know what hit you. Or _where _for that matter.

"I'm protecting you." He finally said then twitched and hissed as someone bumped into him and forced him a bit closer to her than he wanted to be. Hanna saw him clench his fists on either side of her shoulders, looking very much like he was about to back hand someone if they pushed him any closer. And found herself reaching up and grasping his shirt and shifting their positions before some innocent bystander got hurt, startling him a little bit.

"Hanna!"

"Be quiet, Fraser and try to relax."

He looked like he wanted nothing more than to argue but no sooner than the words left her lips someone bumped into her, forcing her flush against him. Both Benton and Hanna stiffened and flushed and awkwardly apologised to eachother as Benton lashed out with his foot without her knowing it and kicked the person pressing her against him in the butt, forcing them into someone else.

Hanna looked over her shoulder with a suspicious look on her pretty face and muttered, "Well, that was odd."

Benton gave her a slightly nervous look as he laughed then said. "Not really. Things like that happen all the time." She was silent for a heat beat or two, her expression regarding him- contemplative before she said in a doubtful tone.

"Really? Things like that actually happen all the time, hm?" Benton noted that she was walking just within arms reach of a group of people dressed like muggers and took a moment to ignore her question as he reached out and lightly draped an arm around her slender shoulders and pulled her in close to his side. Causing her to give him a startled glance as she flushed then looked away.

_Oh. Oh my-_ Benton thought as he blinked and stared blankly ahead. He may not know much about the opposite sex, but he knew enough to know when a woman was interested in him. And from the looks of the fetching flush staining Hanna's cheeks...she was definitely interested. Though for what reason he couldn't possibly fathom. According to the few women that he had tried dating before, he was boring, uninteresting, non adventurous and too- too _gentlemanly_.

One woman had even told him before breaking up with him, 'Benton, you're so much like a boy scout that you actually make the boy scouts look bad.' Which had turned out to be a huge blow to his self confidence as far as women and dating were concerned.

Still, now he found himself in a whole new predicament and wouldn't be able to escape from it until the end of the month.


End file.
